The Amber Alert system was established in 1996, when 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted and killed in Texas. Since then, the system has been used to successfully recover hundreds of abducted children across the United States. Typically, an Amber Alert is activated when law enforcement believes that a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.

When an Amber Alert is issued, it is broadcast on radio and television stations, as well as on highway signs, mobile devices, and other public notification systems. This helps to spread the message of the abduction to as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.

The purpose of Amber Alerts is to enlist the help of the public in locating and recovering abducted children. The information broadcast in an Amber Alert often includes a description of the child, their suspected abductor, and the vehicle in which they were last seen. This can be incredibly helpful to the public in providing information to law enforcement, which could lead to the recovery of the child.